Eight local golds at Gateway Invitational Open

A new rivalry was forged on Saturday afternoon as a team of young weightlifters from the Variety Village Club in Scarborough challenged the junior members of the local Norsemen/Valkyries in the Gateway Invitational Open weightlifting competition held at the YMCA. When all male and female divisions were completed, the Variety Village squad finished with 6 first place winners to 8 for the Norsemen/Valkyries.

Local winners included Victoria Dubonnet and Kathleen McMillan in the female 58 and 63 kilo classes respectively. In the male weight classes Jake Staples was first at 40 kilos, Reid Martel at 46, Jarret Cauchy at 62, David Staniszewski at 94, Mark Haaksman at 105, and A.J. Wendover at +105.

Wendover, the current Canadian Junior Champion, set two new Ontario junior records with a clean and jerk of 156 and a total of 279. Both marks also exceeded the Norsemen +105 club records, established at last month’s Ontario Seniors by Jason Partridge. Partridge and Wendover will compete next month in the Canadian Senior Championship in La Prairie, Quebec.

The male best lifter under-16 - according to the Sinclair formula - was Logan Baker of the Norsemen. Baker was the runner-up to Jarret Cauchy in the 62 kilo class. The best female under-16 was Taylor Findlay of Variety Village. Findlay was the winner of the 53 kilo class.

The top novice lifters (first time competitors) were Caitlan van Dodewaard and Luka Normanidn. Both lifters represented the Canuck Athletic Club of Ottawa. Normanidn was the second place finisher in the male 69 kilo division, while van Dodewaard took first in the female 75 kilo class.

The Wingate Lottery Award for the top high school contingent went to West Ferris Secondary School of North Bay. Team members included: Kirt Trahan, David Staniszewski, Jarret Cauchy, Cameron Boake, Jordan Hickey, and David Uyeda. The runner-up team was from Neil McNeil High School in Toronto.

Submitted to BayToday.ca